F 

591 

.21 

146 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

•0- 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


MEMORIAL 


TO    THE 


Congress  of  the  United  States 


FROM    THE 


NATIONAL, IRRIGATION  CONGRESS 


HELD    AT 


Salt  Lake  City,  September  15,  1 6  and  17,  1891 


WITH 


APPENDICES. 


SALT  LAKE  CITY: 
PRESS  OF  THE  IRRIGATION  AGE. 

1892. 


MEMORIAL 


TO  THE 


Congress  of  the  United  States 


FROM    THE 


NATIONAL  IRRIGATION  CONGRESS 


HELD    AT 


Salt  Lake  City,  September  15,  16  and  17,  1891 


APPENDICES. 


SALT  LAKE  CITY: 

PRESS  OF  THE  IRRIGATION  AGE, 

1892, 


MEMORIAL 

TO    THE 

CONGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

x 

FROM    THE 

NATIONAL  IRRIGATION  GONGRESS 

HELD    AT 

Salt  Lake  City,  September  15,16  and  17,  1891. 


To  the  Honorable,  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in 
Congress  Assembled — Your  memorialists  respresent  that  in  pursu- 
ance of  a  call  issued  by  the  Hon.  Arthur  L.  Thomas,  Governor  of 
Utah,  for  a  convention  "to  consider  matters  pertaining  to  the  recla- 
mation of  the  arid  public  lands  of  the  West,"  the  Irrigation  Con- 
gress met  at  Salt  Lake  City  on  September  15,  1891,  and  remained 
in  session  for  three  days.  There  were  delegates  in  attendance 
from  the  States  of  California,  Colorado,  Idaho,  Kansas,  Montana, 
Nebraska,  Nevada,  Oregon,  Texas  and  Wyoming,  and  the  Terri- 
tories of  Utah  and  New  Mexico,  and  the  body  was  in  a  notable 
degree  representative  of  that  large  section  of  the  Union  to  which 
the  rainfall  is  inadequate  for  the  purposes  of  agriculture. 

The  sense  of  the  Congress  was  embodied  in  the  following  res- 
olutions: 

Resolved,  That  this  Congress  is  in  favor  of  granting  in  trust, 
upon  such  conditions  as  shall  serve  the  public  interest,  to  the 
States  and  Territories  needful  of  irrigation,  all  lands  now  a  part  of 
the  public  domain  within  such  States  and  Territories,  excepting 
mineral  lands,  for  the  purpose  of  developing  irrigation,  to  render 
the  lands  now  arid,  fertile  and  capable  of  supporting  a  population. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  convention  that  the  com- 
mittee selected  to  prepare  and  present  to  Cnngress  the  memorial  of 


this  convention  respecting  public  lands,  should  ask  as  a  prelimi- 
nary to  the  cession  of  all  the  land  in  the  Territories,  in  accordance 
with  the  resolutions  of  the  convention,  a  liberal  grant  to  said  Ter- 
ritories and  to  the  States  to  be  formed  therefrom,  of  the  public 
lands  to  be  devoted  to  public  school  purposes. 

WHEREAS,  Large  areas  of  arid  lands  and  semi-arid  lands,  situ- 
ated upon  the  great  plains  in  the  Dakotas,  Western  Nebraska, 
Kansas  and  Oklahoma,  were  settled  upon  in  good  faith' by  home- 
seekers,  under  the  supposition  that  they  were  entering  agricultural 
lands,  and 

WHKKKAS,  The  settlers  upon  such  lands  have  expended  much 
time  and  labor  upon  the  same,  and  paid  into  the  United  .States 
Treasury  therefor  many  millions  of  dollars,  only  to  discover  that 
irrigation,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  is  necessary  in  making  homes 
for  themselves  thereon.  Therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  representatives  of  all  of  the  States  and 
Territories  directly  concerned  in  irrigation,  do  hereby  pledge  their 
unwavering  support  to  the  just  demands  of  such  settlers,  that  the 
General  Government  shall  donate  at  least  a  portion  of  the  funds 
received  from  the  sale  of  such  lands  toward  the  procurement  of  the 
means  necessary  for  their  irrigation. 

Resolved ,  That  this  Congress  heartily  endorse  the  irrigation 
work  of  the  Agricultural  Department  of  the  National  Govern- 
ment in  the  collection  and  dissemination  of  information,  especially 
its  admirable  progress  reports  covering  the  whole  field  of  irriga- 
tion development,  and  that  it  favors  large  appropriations  for  this 
work  hereafter. 

It  is  submitted  that  the  considerations  in  support  of  the  request 
expressed  in  the  first  of  the  above  resolutions  are  of  a  very  cogent 
character.  •  It  is  undeniably  true  that  the  General  Government  has 
nearly  reached  the  limit  of  its  capacity  to  provide  homes  for  settlers 
upon  the  public  domain.  The  tracts  now  remaining  are  almost 
wholly  such  as  can  not  be  sold  or  otherwise  disposed  of  under  the 
liberal  provisions  of  our  land  laws.  Referring  to  the  area  em- 
braced in  the  terms  of  the  resolution,  the  condition  is  found  to  be 
that  lands  susceptible  of  irrigation  at  a  practicable  cost  are  occupied, 


and  that  those  which  arc  still  subject  to  entry  can  only  be  fitted  for 
cultivation  by  systems  of  canals,  reservoirs  or  artesian  wells,  in- 
volving expenditures  quite  beyond  the  resources  of  individual  settlers. 

The  topography  and  other  physical  conditions  that  must  be 
overcome  in  the  work  of  utilizing  water  for  the  purposes  of  agri- 
culture are  not  widely  understood.  The  ultimate  sources  of  the 
streams  that  provide  the  only  available  water  supply  are  the  snows 
that  are  deposited  on  the  mountain  tops  and  in  the  deep  recesses  of 
the  canons.  In  the  spring  these  snows  melt  rapidly  and  form 
raging  torrents,  that  cut  deep  channels  in  their  pathway*,  Thus 
when  they  enter  the  valley  they  are  far  below  the  levels  of  the 
lands  which  they  are  to  reclaim.  The  condition  renders  it  necees- 
sary  to  fix  the  point  of  diversion  far  up  the  canon  upon  the  rocky 
mountain  sides,  and  to  construct  long  canals  and  flumes  to  conduct 
the  water  at  the  required  height  to  be  delivered  upon  the  successive 
benches  that  lie  below. 

The  waste  of  water  before  the  season  of  irrigation  commences 
is  another  potent  factor  of  expense.  In  the  spring  the  flow  of 
water  is  the  largest,  for  obvious  reasons,  and  then  vast  volumes  run 
to  waste.  Later,  the  supply  decreases,  and  is  the  least  when  most 
needed  for  the  nourishment  of  growing  crops.  To  prevent  this 
the  only  efficient  remedy  is  to  impound  the  water  in  large  storage 
reservoirs,  which  can  only  be  costructed  at  an  enormous  cost. 

It  is  not  to  be  assumed  that  because  the  reclamation  of  the  arid 
region  involves  the  expenditure  of  large  sums  of  money  it  is  there- 
fore impracticable.  On  the  contrary,  it  can  be  fully  justified  as  a 
business  enterprise.  Compare  the  yield  in  agricultural  products  of 
lands  cultivated  with  the  aid  of  irrigation  with  the  yield  of  lands 
that  are  watered  by  the  natural  rainfall,  and  the  difference  will  be 
found  from  50  to  100  per  cent  in  favor  of  the  former.  Land  that 
is  now  wholly  unproductive,  upon  being  provided  with  facilities 
for  irrigatio^  immediately  attains  a  value  of  from  $10  to  $50  an 
acre,  the  difference  being  due  to  location,  accessibility  to  markets, 
and  other  manifest  conditions.  It  may  be  questioned  whether 
the  country  affords  a  more  inviting  field  for  the  investment  of  cap- 
ital than  that  which  is  here  presented. 


We  feet  warranted  in  assuming  that  the  General  Government 
will  pursue  no  policy  respecting  the  arid  lands  of  the  public  domain 
that  will  not  assist  in  their  reclamation  and  the  development  of 
their  possibilities  in  affording  homes  to  settlers,  increasing  the  food 
supply  for  the  people  and  contributing  to  the  general  wealth.  The 
question  remains  whether  Congress  will  undertake  the  work  by 
direct  appropriations  from  the  Treasury  sufficient  for  the  prompt 
construction  of  the  required  systems  of  irrigation.  There  has  been 
some  agitation  of  the  subject  for  several  years  past,  without  fur- 
ther results  than  the  appropriation  of  $350,000  and  its  expenditure 
in  topographical  surveys.  It  is  not  manifest  that  these  have 
materially  advanced  the  solution  of  the  practical  problems  of  irri- 
gation. At  all  events,  the  rate  of  progress  forbids  the  hope  of 
any  substantial  results  within  a  reasonable  period.  So  far  as  we 
can  infer  the  disposition  of  the  General  Government  from  its 
previous  action,  the  answer  to  the  above  question  must  be  in  the 
negative. 

NKITJIKIl    IS    IT    CERTA  I  \ 

that  it  would  be  practicable  for  Congress  to  pass  a  general  law  that 
would  operate  justly  and  sufficiently  upon  all  parts  of  the  arid  belt. 
Not  only  do  the  physical  conditions  vary  in  the  different  sections, 
but  the  laws  governing  the  appropriation  and  use  of  water  are 
radically  different  in  adjoining  States.  Wyoming  differs  in  both 
from  Montana  and  Idaho,  and  Colorado  from  Utah  and  New 
Mexico;  and  yet  it  is  of  primary  importance  that  legislation  de- 
signed to  promote  the  reclamation  of  these  lands  should  recognize 
and  adjust  itself  to  all  of  these  differences. 

The  only  alternative  course  seems  to  be  that  which  is  recom- 
mended in  the  resolutions  of  the  Congress,  viz.:  "The  granting  in 
trust  upon  such  conditions  as  shall  serve  the  public  interest,  to  the 
States  and  Territories,  excepting  mineral  lands  for  the  purpose  of 
developing  irrigation,  to  render  the  lands  now  arid  fertile  and 
capable  of  supporting  a  population."  We  feel  assured  that  such 
action  would  be  promptly  followed  by  the  inauguration  and  vigor- 
ous prosecution  of  enterprises  for  the  reclamation  of  those  lands, 
either  by  the  States  and  Territories  themselves,  or  through  the 


1 

agency  of  municipalities  erected  for  the  purpose  with  power  to 
borrow  money  upon  the  security  of  the  works  and  the  reclaimed 
lands. 

A  precedent  for  the  policy  proposed  is  not  wanting.  Congress 
ceded  to  the  States  in  the  Mississippi  valley  and  other  sections  of 
the  Union  the  swamp  lands  within  their  respective  limits.  The 
purpose  of  this  action  was  to  insure  their  reclamation,  and  it  found 
its  support  in  the  knowledge  that  a  considerable  expense  would  be 
involved  in  fitting  them  for  cultivation.  Such  is  the  condition  of 
the  arid  lands,  with  this  difference,  that 

THE    PROBLEM   OF   RECLAMATION 

is  infinitely  more  difficult  than  that  of  draining  the  swamp  lands, 
and  also  that  the  swamp  lands  in  any  one  State  were  of  compara- 
tively little  value  and  of  so  slight  concern  to  the  public  that  they 
were  liable  to  maladministration ;  whereas  in  the  case  of  the  arid 
lands,  as  soon  as  they  come  under  the  control  of  the  State  they 
will  at  once  become  the  most  prominent  question  in  State  poli- 
tics, and  of  so  great  and  immediate  importance  to  its  citizens  that 
their  administration  will  be  conducted  under  the  surveillance  of  a 
deeply  concerned  people,  who  will  permit  of  no  chicanery.  In 
principle,  the  cession  of  the  swamp  lands  to  the  States  affords  a 
precedent  for  such  action  as  we  are  seeking  at  the  hands  of  your 
honorable  body. 

The  importance  of  our  pastoral  interests  makes  it  necessary 
that  provision  be  made  for  the  protection  and  utilization  of  the 
grazing  land  in  connection  with  the  contiguous  irrigable  areas. 
To  the  grazing  lands  as  distinguished  from  the  agricultural  lands  be- 
long- those  vast  areas  of  elevated  table  and  bench  lands  and  the  high 
rolling  divides  which  lie  upon  the  summits  and  along  the  slopes  of 
the  watersheds;  and  they  comprise  'three-fourths  of  the  arid  do- 
main. They  never  can  be  made  the  self-supporting  habitation  of 
man,  because  they  are  too  elevated  and  too  vast  in  extent  to  be  ir- 
rigated ;  but  they  furnish  a  valuable  complement  to  the  lands  re- 
claimed, the  first  supplying  the  summer's,  and  the  second  the  win- 
ter's food  supply. 


Adequate  provision  for  securing  possession  or  management  of 
these  lands,  for  the  sole  purpose  to  which  they  are  adapted,  has 

NEVER    BEEN     ATTEMPTED 

by  Congress;  and  the  question  is  of  such  magnitude  and  import- 
ance in  connection  with  the  subject  of  farming  by  irrigation  in 
the  region  where  grazing  lands  abound,  that  a  great  impetus  will 
be  given  to  irrigation  if  such  States  as  may  see  fit  to  adopt  that 
policy  are  placed  in  a  position  to  encourage  settlement  by  attaching 
to  the  land  capab'e  of  being  reclaimed  a  larger  contiguous  tract  of 
grazing  land.  It  will  make  more  valuable  the  irrigable  areas  and 
supply  the  settler  with  an  important  source  of  income  by  adding 
the  business  of  stock  raising  to  that  of  the  farmer. 

No  mention  is  made  in  the  resolutions  of  the  Congress  of 
the  preservation  of  the  forests,  but  the  subject  is  too  inti- 
mately associated  with  that  of  irrigation  to  be  divorced.  The 
coniferous  trees,  such  as  constitute  the  timber  growth  on  the 
mountains  and  elevated  plateaus  of  the  West,  are  exceedingly  in- 
flammable, and  when  fire  is  once  communicated  to  them  a  vast 
destruction  of  value  ensues.  The  loss  from  this  cause  measured 
by  the  stumpage  value  of  the  timber  alone  may  be  estimated, 
without  extravagance,  at  $100,000,000  per  year.  The  Federal 
Goverment  has  made  some  efforts  to  arrest  this  destruction,  but 
wholly  without  success. 

It  is  from  the  States,  or  local  agencies  created  by  the  States* 
that  protection  must  be  sought.  To  the  settlers  the 

PRESERVATION    OF    THE    FORESTS 

is  a  matter  of  grave  importance.  They  are  dependent  upon  them 
for  fuel,  fencing  and  building  materials,  but  this  is  by  no  means 
the  limit  of  their  interest.  The  forests  on  the  mountain  tops  are 
the  chief  conservators  of  the  water  that  is  to  irrigate  the  valleys 
below.  With  their  destruction  the  reclamation  of  the  arid  Ipnds 
ceases  to  be  a  problem  and  becomes  an  impossibility.  An  efficient 
and  just  system  of  preserving  the  forests  from  destruction  by  fire 
and  applying  them,  under  proper  restrictions,  to  the  use  of  the  set- 


tiers,  cannot   be  otherwise  provided  and  administered  than  by  the 
States.        » 

The  second  of  the  above  resolutions  addresses  itself  to  a  sub- 
ject that  cannot  fail  to  commend  itself  to  your  favorable  considera- 
tion. It  is  inconceivable  that  Congress  will  make  any  disposition 
of  the  public  domain  without  first  securing  to  the  Territories  their 
endowment  for  the  support  of  public  schools.  The  arbitrary  se- 
lection by  law  of  the  sections  dedicated  to  this  purpose  operates  as 
a  great  injustice  to  the  Territories  in  the  arid  region.  By  far  the 
greater  number  of  the  school  sections  are  located  on  mountain  tops 
£>r  other  places  where  they  cannot  be  cultivated,  and  it  follows  that 
nothing  can  be  realized  from  their  sale.  The  liberal  policies  of 
the  Government,  dating  from  the  passage  of  the  great  ordinance 
of  1787,  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  education  of  our  youth  forbids 
the  thought  that  any  discrimination  will  be  exercised  against  the 
newer  portions  of  the  Union,  or  that  they  shall  be  less  than  equal 
sharers  in  its  bounty.  The  petition  embodied  in  the  resolution  is 
simply  an  appeal  for  justice. 

THE    CONDITION    OF    SETTLERS 

on  lands  within  the  semi-arid  belt  was  felt  to  call  urgently  for  re- 
lief at  your  hands.  Thousands  of  people  have  settled  within  this 
area  in  reliance  upon  the  assurance  officially  extended  by  the  Gov- 
ernment that  they  were  "agricultural,"  which  was  naturally  pre- 
sumed to  mean  that  they  were  capable  of  producing  crops  by  the 
usual  method  of  agriculture.  They  have  found  that  the  rainfall  is 
highly  uncertain  in  quantity  and  seasonableness,  and  that  year 
after  year  the  labors  which  they  have  bestowed  upon  their  fields 
have  been  expended  in  vain.  The  consequences  have  been  most 
deplorable.  Without  fault  on  their  own  part,  acting  only  upon 
the  impulse  that  has  been  the  chief  factor  in  expanding  the  do- 
main of  civilization,  they  now  find  themselves  and  their  families 
confronted  with  actual  destitution.  The  Government  sold  to  them 
the  lands  that  they  occupy  at  no  less  prices  and  upon  no  other 
terms  than  such  as  obtained  in  more  favored  localities;  and  it  has 
received  into  its  treasury  not  less  than  $12,000,000  as  the  pur- 


IO 

chase  price.  We  submit  that  the  circumstances  eloquently  support 
their  prayer  for  relief,  and  that  the  Government  may  most  prop- 
erly dedicate  a  portion  of  the  money  which  they  have  themselves 
contributed  to  the  work  of  developing  and  applying  the  water 
supply  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  these  lands  habitable  and 
productive. 

And  your  memorialists,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray,  etc. 

ALEX.  C.  BOTKIX,  Chairman,  Montana, 

A.  D.  FOOTE,  Secretary,  Idaho, 

C.   C.   WRIGHT,   California, 

FRANK   BOND,   Wyoming, 

J.  H.  ABBOTT,  Nebraska, 

J.  H.  HAMILTON,  Oregon, 

C.  W.   IRISH,  Nevada, 

PL  ATT   ROGERS,  Colorado, 

\V.   II.   KING,  Utah, 

J.   II.   THOMAS,   Washington, 

D.  II.   WK.NC.K u,   Xew   Mexico, 

Of  tJie    Committee  on   Memorial. 


APPiNDIX. 


CALIFORNIA. 

In  California  and  other  States  laws  have  been  enacted  provid- 
ing for  the  formation  of  irrigation  districts  which,  in  their  quasi- 
municipal  character,  arc  empowered  to  construct  works  and  supply 
water  for  irrigation  to  the  lands  constituting  the  district,  and  to 
this  end  are  given  authority  to  issue  and  sell  bonds,  and  levy  and 
collect  assessments  in  payment  thereof. 

By  this  means  the  landowners  are  able  to  co-operate  and  to  ac- 
quire a  water  supply  which  becomes  a  perpetual  appurtenance  to 
the  land,  at  no  greater  expense  than  the  actual  cost  of  construc- 
tion. 

•The  system  works  well  wherever  the  title  to  the  lands  is  held 
in  fee  simple  by  the  occupants,  but  there  are  large  areas  of  arid 
lands  in  California  and  elsewhere  where  this  system  is  being  oper- 
ated where  a  considerable  portion  of  an  area,  which  otherwise 
might  thus  be  successfully  operated,  cannot  be  brought  under  this 
system,  because  assessments  for  raising  the  necessary  revenues  can- 
not be  made  a  charge  against  the  portion,  the  title  to  which  is  yet 
in  the  Government. 

We  respectfully  suggest  that  if  a  statute  were  enacted  by  Con- 
gress providing  that  where  Government  lands,  including  such  as 
may  have  been  filed  upon  under  the  laws,  are  included  within  irri- 
gation districts,  formed  under  the  laws  of  the  State,  a  pro  rata 
charge,  per  acre,  should  become  a  lien  on  these  lands,  to  be  paid  by 
the  person  who  shall  acquire  title  from  the  Government,  that  it 
would  result  in  great  benefit,  and  in  the  reclamation  of  vast  areas 
which  will  not  be  reached  by  any  other  means  for  many  years  to 
come.  In  many  localities  in  California,  and  doubtless  in  other 


12 

States  having  laws  similar  to  the  California  district  law,  new  com- 
munities, composed  partly  of  homestead  and  pre-emption  claims, 
are  unable  to  successfully  operate  a  system  for  the  development  of 
their  lands,  because  lands,  to  which  the  title  in  fee  simple  has  not 
been  acquired  by  the  occupant,  cannot  be  subjected  to  the  Hen  of 
the  bonds  which  may  be  issued  by  the  district. 

Speaking  particularly  of  the  conditions  existing  in  California, 
there  would  be  great  public  benefit  in  a  statute  which  would  en- 
able a  district  of  this  character  to  make  a  valid  lew  of  assessments 
against  lands  so  held,  if  not  against  lands  upon  which  no  filing  has 
yet  been  made. 

While  the  lien  would  be  inoperative  as  against  the  Govern- 
ment, it  would  be  possible  to  make  such  a  provision  MS  would  ren- 
der assessments  so  levied,  ;i  charge  to  be  paid  by  the  person  who 
should  eventually  acquire  the  title. 

If  Congress  should  make  the  cession  of  public  lands  prayed 
for  in  the  above  memorial  this  feature  of  the  subject  would,  of 
course,  be  dealt  with  by  the  various  States  and  Territories  inter- 
ested. If  not,  relief  in  line  with  the  above  suggestions  would  be 
of  material  benefit  in  California  and  other  States  similarly  situ- 
ated. 


IDAHO. 

The  total  area   of  Idaho  is  86,294  square  miles,  or  55,228,160 
acres,  classified  as  follows: 


CLASS. 

Acres. 

Agricultural   lands    

16,000  ooo 

Forest  lands 

Grazing  lands 

2O  OOO  OOO 

Broken,  lava  and  mountainous  lands 

8  ooo  ooo 

Lakes  and   rivers  ....          

1,228  160 

Total  

55,228  160 

IRRIGATION    AREAS    AND    RESERVOIR    CAPACITIES. 


DRAINAGE  SYSTEMS. 

Area  now 
irrigated, 
acres.  f 

Area  irri- 
gated when 
canal  systems 
now  under 
construction 
are  complet- 
ed, acres.f 

Area  irri- 
gable at  a 
cost  of  less 
than  $10  per 
acre,  includ- 
ing storage, 
acres,  t 

Storage 
reservoir  ca- 
pacities, 
acre  -feet. 

Kails    river 

8,000 

IO,OOO 

l8o,OOO 

*  5OO,OOO 

N^orth  Kork  Snake  river 

10,000 

75,OOO 

8o,OOO 

S2OO.OOO 

Teton  river 

25,000 

8o,OOO 

2O,OOO 

§5O,OOO 

Lost  River  countrv     

9,000 

9,OOO 

325,000 

§5,OOO 

South  Fork  Snake  river  

8,000 

8,OOO 

35,OOO 

*2,OOO,OOO 

Main  Snake  river   north  side 

8000 

3O,OOO 

*I,  2  5O,OOO 

Main  Snake  river,  south  side.  . 
Rock,  Rait  and  Marsh  creeks. 
The  \Vood  rivers                   

45,ooo 
16,000 
10,000 

450,000 
l6,OOO 
IO,OOO 

*4  50,000 
65,000 
30,000 

j|  200,000 
§30,000 
§2CO,OOO 

Mountain    llome   '        .  . 

18,000 

l8,OOO 

400,000 

i?2O,OOO 

Goose  and  Salmon  creeks.      .  . 

25,000 

25,000 

450,000 

§200,OOO 

Bruneau  river  
Boise  river 

12,000 
3OOOO 

22,000 

37«;,ooo 

250,000 
1  371;  ,000 

§50,000 
t2  CO.OOO 

Pavette  river 

2O,OOO 

160,000 

1760,000 

1250,000 

Weiser  river 

I2,OOO 

12,000 

t75,ooo 

§IOO,OOO 

Salmon  river 

IO,OOO 

10,000 

600,000 

§6OO,OOO 

Bear  river                

2  1  ,  t;oo 

21,500 

61,500 

4575,000 

Totals 

287,500 

1,331,  SOO 

4,QO6,COO 

4,78O,OOO 

*  Shown  by  U.  S.  irrigation  surveys. 

+   Areas  from  II.  S.  land  surveys. 

:£   From  private  surveys. 

§    Estimated. 

l|   Estimated  on  Blackfoot  and  Portneuf  rivers. 

The  State  should  own  the  forest  lands  and  hold  them,  that  it 
mav  preserve  the  forests  thereon  from  destruction  and  the  water 
supply  from  becoming  intermittent  and  useless. 

The  State  should  own  the  grazing-  lands  and  hold  them  that 
they  may  be  made  valuable  and  that  the  revenues  from  them  may 
be  available  to  pay  the  expense  of  protecting  the  forests. 

The  State  should  own  the  irrigable  lands,  that  it  may  obtain  a 
revenue  from  their  sale  with  which  to  so  regulate  and  distribute 
the  water  supplv  for  their  irrigation  as  to  produce  the  greatest 
benefit  to  the  commonwealth  and  to  the  individual  i 


THE    FORESTS. 

Idaho  has  about  ten  million  acres  of  forest  lands.  These  are 
of  great  value  for  their  natural  products  alone,  and  should  be  pro- 
tected from  devastation  on  that  account.  For  the  conservation  and 
regulation  of  the  water  supply,  however,  they  are  of  far  greater 
value  to  the  State. 


H 

No  system  of  reservoirs,  however  costly,  can  so  well  regulate 
the  flow  of  its  great  rivers  and  hold  their  waters  back  for  irriga- 
tion late  in  the  summer  as  the  forests  do  now. 

Under  the  care  of  the  General  Government  the  forests  of  this 
State  are  being  destroyed  with  terrible  rapidity,  and  there  appears 
no  hope  of  change  in  this  policy. 

This  State,  if  it  owned  these  forests,  would  establish  a  system 
of  mounted  patrols  which  would  prevent  the  fires  from  destroying 
and  the  timber  cutters  from  doing  injury. 

Such  a  system  would  cost  about  $75?°°°  Per  annum. 

A  portion  of  this  sum  would  be  repaid  to  the  State  by  a  tax  on 
the  timber  cut,  and  the  remainder  from  the  rentals  of  the  pasture 
lands. 

THE     GRAZING    LANDS. 

There  are  about  twenty  million  acres  of  land  in  Idaho  reported 
as  grazing  lands.  These  now  are  of  no  direct  benefit  to  the  Gen- 
eral Government  and  cannot  be  sold,  because,  under  the  land  laws, 
no  one  can  acquire  over  160  acres,  and  such  a  small  area  is  of  no 
value. 

Under  State  ownership  they  would  be  leased  on  long  terms  in 
tracts  not  exceeding  5,000  acres  each  for  two  cents  per  acre  per 
annum. 

With  the  security  of  tenure  thus  given,  stockmen  would  fence 
their  holdings,  develop  water  on  them  sufficient  for  stock  and 
domestic  use  and  make  them  extremely  valuable  as  adjuncts  to 
their  irrigated  hay  lands,  using  the  pastures  for  their  summer  and 
the  hav  lands  for  their  winter  feeding. 

The  revenue  from  the  grazing  lauds  thus  rented  would  be  suf- 
ficient for  the  administration  and  protection  of  both  pastures  and 
forests. 

In  irrigation,  a  very  unstable,  though  valuable  element  is.spread 
abroad  over  the  land  in  open  channels  and  must  be  divided  equally 
amongst  hundreds  of  individuals.  The  obtaining  of  this  water  at 
the  proper  time  is  often  the  sole  condition  between  plenty  and 
poverty  to  hundreds  of  families. 

It  is  an  absolute  necessity  that  the  water  supply  be  controlled 
and  regulated  by  the  State  to  prevent  terrible  oppression  and 
hardship. 

Proper  control  and  regulation  is  difficult  and  intricate,  requir- 
ing men  of  ability  and  special  training  and  a  large  expenditure  of 
money.  It  is  not  reasonable  to  tax  the  other  industries  of  the 


'5 
commonwealth  for    the   direct   use  and   benefit  of    these  irritable 

O 

lands,  therefore  the  State  should  own  these  lands,  that  it  may  sell 
them  at  such  a  price  as  will  pav  for  the  extraordinary  expense 
which  their  peculiar  conditions  -require. 

The  State  would  establish  a  commission  or  board  of  waters, 
lands  and  forests,  whose  duties  would  be  to  protect  the  forests  from 
fire,  secure  proper  cutting  of  timber  and  collect  the  revenue  there- 
from ;  allot  and  rent  the  pastures  and  collect  the  rentals ;  control 
and  regulate  the  water  supply,  that  no  waste,  oppression  or 
monopoly  shall  injure  the  people,  and  conduct  the  sale  of  the  irri- 
gable lands  in  such  a  manner  as  may  advance  the  interests  of  the 
commonwealth.  This  board  would  thus  control  the  greatest  of  all 
State  affairs  and  would  be  held  responsible  for  their  proper  admin- 
istration. 

Each  citizen  of  the  State  would  have  an  intimate  personal  in- 
terest in  its  proceedings  and  would  watch  it  as  if  it  were  his  own. 
The  shape  of  his  pocketbook  would  often  be  affected  by  their 
work.  Is  it  probable  that  corruption  could  creep  in  where  there 
were  so  many  interested  eves  upon  the  watch? 

It  would  seem  like  questioning  the  ability  of  our  people  to 
govern  themselves,  to  question  their  ability  to  administer  the 
waters,  lands  and  forests  upon  which  their  livlihood  depends. 


UTAH. 

The  people  of  Utah  are  heartily  in  favor,  of  the  proposition  to 
cede  the  arid  public  lands  to  the  States  and  Territories.  They  see 
in  it  an  opportunity  to  vastly  increase  Utah's  capabilities  for  the 
support  of  population  and  to  make  substantial  provision  for  the 
support  of  an  American  public  school  system.  The  time  has  come 
when  the  need  of  a  radical  change  in  the  manner  of  handling  the 
arid  public  lands  is  keenly  felt,  as  a  necessity  in  the  development 
of  Utah. 

In  Utah  the  recent  Federal  census  shows  that  in  the  purely 
agricultural  counties,  with  some  exceptions,  the  growth  has  been 
very  slow.  The  truth  is  that  Utah,  rich  as  she  is  in  all  that  can 
make  a  State  great  and  prosperous,  has  been  sending  away  thous- 
ands of  her  people  to  the  more  sparsely  settled  States  and  Territo- 
ries. The  hive  has  been  swarming  for  many  years.  In  the  case 
of  the  great  West,  the  western  ocean  has  been  reached  and  the 


i6 

tide  of  immigration  has  been  turned  back  in  search  of  new  fields, 
and  these  new  fields  have  been  found  in  the  arable  lands  of  the 
arid  region  which  onlv  wait  for  water  to  make  them  habitable  for 
man.  Passing  to  the  question  of  the  support  of  the  public  schools, 
it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  Government  has  always  taken 
a  deep  interest  in  the  education  of  its  people.  I  is  course  in  this 
respect  has  illumined  one  of  the  brightest  pages  in  our  national 
history.  It  has  given  in  support  of  the  puublic  schools  an  area  of 
land  greater  than  many  empires  in  extent.  The  benign  influence 
of  this  generous  grant  has  been  felt  by  every  State  admitted  to  the 
Union  since  the  passage  of  the  ordinance  of  1787.  Under  the 
provisions  of  this  great  ordinance  and  of  later  ln\vs,  sections  16 
and  36  of  every  section  of  land  in  the  great  tract  of  territory  north 
and  west  of  the  Ohio  was  reserved  for  the  schools  of  the  States 
thereafter  to  be  formed  out  of  said  territnrv.  In  what  are  known 
geographically  as  the  Western  States,  the  arbitrary  selection  of  the 
lands  by  law  did  not  effect  their  value,  but  as  to  the  States  and 
Territories  of  the  arid  region  it  has  rendered  them  practically  val- 
ueless, because  of  natural  conditions  which  cannot.be  changed  nor 
removed.  A  statement  of  the  case  of  Utah  will  serve  to  bring 
this  fact  out  more  clearlv. 

In  this  Territory  the  tillable  lands  avc  found  in  the  valleys,  and 
form  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  whole.  The  majority  of  the 
school  sections  are  found  on  the  mountain  tops  and  sides,  and  in 
places  where  they  can  not  be  cultivated.  Where  they  are  found 
in  the  valleys  the  title  has  mostly  passed  to  settlers.  The  land 
office  was  not  opened  in  Utah  until  March,  1889,  and  the  lands  in 
the  valleys  had  been  largely  taken  up  1>\  settlers  before  that  time. 
The  few  reserved  school  sections  remaining  in  the  valleys  are,  with 
but  two  or  three  exceptions,  of  nominal  value.  Consequently,  so 
far  as  Utah  is  concerned,  and  this  is  probably  true  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree  of  all  the  States  and  Territories  in  the  arid  region,  the 
endowment  which  it  was  intended  by  the  Government  to  be  given 
to  the  public  schools  is  lost.  Such  action,  then,  should  be  taken  by 
the\  general  Government  as  .  will  place  the  States  and  Territories 
of  the  arid  region  on  an  equality  with  the  other  Stales  and  Terri- 
tories that  have  been  able  to  reali/e  more  fully  from  the  bounty  of 
the  Government.  In  speaking  of  the  cause  of  public  schools, 
reference  is  made  more  especially  to  Utah.  The  situation  of  the 
States  and  Territories  in  the  arid  region  differs  materially  with 
respect  to"  the  size  of  the  streams,  the  extent  of  the  land  which  cari 
be  irrigated  under  improved  methods  for  saving  and  using  the 


water,  and  the  provisions  made  or  attainable  for  their  school  sys- 
tems. Consequently  the  relative  importance  of  the  purposes  for 
which  the  lands  may  be  donated  differ  materially,  and  what  may 
be  a  suitable  donation  for  one  State  or  Territory  may  require  con- 
siderable modification  in  another  in  order  to  adapt  it  to  the  greatest 
needs  and  confer  the  greatest  benefits  upon  the  people.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  the  people  of  Utah  favor  .the  ceding  of  the  lands* 

It  mav  also  be  remarked  that  the  question  of  preserving  the 
great  grazing  ranges,  which  now  furnish  nutricious  food  for  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  cattle  and  sheep,  is  one  of  transcendant 
importance.  The  people  of  all  the  country  are  interested  in  pre- 
serving this  important  source  of  food  supply.  Under  the  present 
conditions  these  lands  are  rapidly  depreciating  in  value.  If  these 
lands  could  be  sold  in  tracts  of  limited  area,  under  carefully-guarded 
provisions  of  law,  their  value  would  be  greatly  increased  and  they 
would  become,  as  they  ought  to  be  now,  a  source  of  revenue  to  the 
States  and  Territories  in  which  they  are  situated. 

There  are  several  ways  in  which  the  water  supply  can  be 
developed,  if  these  problems  be  left  with  the  States.  In  many 
places  artesian  wells  may  be  developed,  in  other  places  storage 
reservoirs  built,  and  in  others  the  construction  of  large  works  will 
bring  out  upon  the  land  water  from  the  rivers,  such  as  the  Green 
and  Grand  in  Utah,  and  the  Snake  in  Idaho.  The  area  of  land  of 
unsurpassed  fertility  that  could  by  these  means  be  rendered  avail- 
able would  furnish  comfortable  and  happy  homes  for  a  mighty 
population.  There  are  few  places  more  inviting  than  the  well- 
cultivated  valleys  of  the  West,  and  the  Government  can  render  its 
people  no  greater  service  than  to  assist  in  a  material  wav  in 
reclaiming  every  acre  possible.  The  policy  of  the  Government 
has  been  not  to  regard  the  lands  as  a  source  of  profit,  but  as  lands 
held  in  trust  for  the  common  good.  It  has  pursued  the  generous 
policy  of  aiding  in  the  settlement  of  the  lands,  and  has  regarded, 
the  question  of  revenue  to  be  derived  from  the  Hale  as  a  minor 
consideration.  We  believe  the  message  which  the  people  of  the 
arid  region  desire  to  send  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  is, 
give  us  the  necessary  aid  and  "  we  will  open  rivers  in  high  places 
and  fountains  in  the  midst  of  the  valleys,"  and  make  the  West  the 
u  crowning  land"  of  our  country. 


i8 


MONTHLY  BULLETIN  OF  THE  UTAH  .WEATHER  SERVICE,  IN 
CO-OPERATION  WITH  THE  U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRI- 
CULTURE WEATHER  BUREAU.  DECEMBF:R,  1891. 

General  Conditions  of  Pressure  and  Temperature. — The  at- 
mospheric pressure  was  considerably  above  the  average.  Low- 
pressure  areas  affected  the  Territory  on  the  1st,  /{th,  9th,  zoth  to 
2  ist,  23d  to  24th,  and  a  noteworthy  one  on  the  3oth.  In  this 
storm  the  barometer  fell  below  29.5  inches.  It  was  an  off-shoot 
or  "secondary"  of  the  storm  that  on  the  zyth  prostrated  with  its 
severity  the  telegraph  wires  in  Washington,  Oregon,  Idaho  and 
Montana.  "Highs,"  or  anticyclones,  passed  over  Utah  on  the  3d, 
5th  to  8th,  loth  to  19th,  22(1,  2^th  to  26th,  and  one  appeared  on 
the  3 1 st.  The  one  on  the  i5th  had  a  central  pressure  of  30.65 
inches.  The  one  on  the  251)1  and  26th  \\  as  central  over  Colorado 
on  the  25th.  It  came  from  the  I  British  provinces  and  brought 
with  it  the  lowest  temperatures  of  the  month  and  clearing  weather, 
which,  ho\\  ever,  only  lasted  a  day  or  two.  The  cold  spell  was 
general  over  Nevada,  Utah  and  Colorado,  as  well  as  adjoining 
States. 

Temperature .  -  Throughout  the  Territory  the  month  seems  to 
have  been  colder  than  the  usual  December;  probably  in  most 
localities  it  was  from  4  to  6  degrees  colder.  At  Salt  Lake  City 
the  records  show  it  to  have  been  6  degrees  lower  than  the  normal 
December,  and  the  coldest  December  since  1876. 

The  warmest  dav  throughout  the  Territory  was  the  ist,  with- 
out exception,  and  the  coldest  dav  was  the  2=^th,  for  all  localities 
except  the  extreme  eastern  part,  where  the  lowest  temperature 
occurred  on  the  26th.  The  coldest  region  was  the  plateau  of  the 
central  part  of  Utah,  comprising  portions  of  Utah,  Juab,  San 
Pete,  Sevier  and  Millard  counties.  The  general  mean  tempera- 
ture averaged  from  17  stations  was  26  degrees. 

The  highest  mean  temperature:  was  35.9  degrees  at  St.  George. 
The  lowest  mean  reported  was  21.2  degrees  at  Nephi.  At  St. 
George  and  Nephi  also  occurred  the  highest  and  lowest  tempera- 
tures respectivelv,  viz.:  highest,  71  degrees  on  the  ist  at  St. 
George,  and  19  degrees  below  zero  on  the  25th  at  Xcphi;  an  ex- 
treme range  of  90  degrees  for  the  month.  The  greatest  local 
monthly  range  was  69  degrees  at  Cisco,  Grand  county;  the  least 
monthly  range  was  41  degrees  at  Snowville,  Box  Elder  county. 

Precipitation. — The  month  was  characterized  by  abundant 
snowfall.  The  average  amount  of  rain  and  melted  snow  at  the 


different  stations  was  1.42  inches.  The  depth  of  snowfall  ranged 
from  i  to  34  inches,  and  perhaps  it  was  even  greater  in  localities 
which  did  not  report.  Xephi  reported  34  inches  for  the  month, 
writh  10  inches  remaining  unmelted  at  the  end  of  the  month; 
Ogden,  32  inches;  Grouse  Creek,  31  inches,  with  13  remaining 
unmelted;  Provo  reported  29  inches;  Levan,  22  inches,  with  9 
remaining  unmelted;  Salt  Lake,  21,  with  3  left  unmelted;  Losee, 
15,  with  8  unmelted;  Snowville,  17,  with  14  unmelted;  other  sta- 
tions had  less  amounts. 

State  of  Weather. — Over  the  greater  part  of  the  Territory  the 
month  was  unusually  cloudy  and  stormy;  more  than  half  of  the 
days  were  regarded  as  cloudy.  The  sunshine  was  but  36  per  cent, 
of  the  possible  amount.  Days  with  rain  varied  from  2  to  15  at 
the  different  stations. 

The  snowfall  for  December  in  the  vicinity  of  Salt  Lake  was  as 
much  as  had  fallen  in  the  entire  previous  season.  Accumulating 
in  the  mountains  as  it  is  now  doing,  it  will  undoubtedly  prove  very 
beneficial,  assuring  an  ample  water  supply  for  the  ensuing  growing 
season;  and  it  is  reasonnble  to  conjecture  that  unusually  large 
crops  will  be  raised  in  1892,  other  conditions  being  favorable. 

METEOROLOGICAL    DATA DECEMBER,     189!. 


TEMPER  ATU  R  K. 

PUKC   UMTATION. 

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Pymm 
Hughes 
Salisbury 

Salt  Lake  City 

2O 


NOTES    BY    OBSERVERS. 

Cisco. — Thunder  storm  on  the  ist. 

Grouse  Creek. — Very  heavy  wind  on  the  3oth;  several  per- 
sons lost  theK  way  in  the  blinding  storm. 

Losee. — Prevailing  wind  NW,  moderate.  From  23d  to  close 
of  month  colder  than  common;  seven  below  zero  25th;  3Oth 
snowed  hard  all  clay.  Ground  not  covered  much  of  the  time  un- 
til the  3oth. 

Levan. — A  heavy  storm  passed  over  at  8:30  p.  m.  on  ist,  ac- 
companied by  thunder  and  lightning  and  high  wind,  moving  from 
NW  to  SE. 

D  esc  ret. — Considerable  thunder  on  ist  between  7  and  8  p.  m. 
Wind  heavy  on  3oth  from  SW.  There  has  not  been  snow  enough 
to  lay  on  the  ground  more  than  three  or  four  hours  at  a  time. 

Paroivan. — Barometer  verv  low  on  evening  of  29th.  Heavy 
south  wind  next  day  and  an  inch  of  snow  at  night.  The  month 
has  been  colder  and  more  snow  than  common  for  December. 
Good  for  winter  grain. 

Moab.— Thunder  storm  ist,  7  p.  m.  First  snow  on  4th,  y2 
inch. 

Nephi. — First  half  of  month  hard  on  crops. 

GEO.  N.   SALISBURY,  Director. 

SALT  LAKE  CITY,  January  j_\  iS^j. 


WASHINGTON. 

UNITED  STATES  LAND  OFFICE,       \ 
NORTH  YAKIMA,  WASHINGTON,  August  28,  1891.  j 

HON.  J.  H.  THOMAS,  North  Yakima,  Washington: 

Dear  Sir — Referring  to  your  letter  of  August  29,  1891,  re- 
questing an  estimate  of  the  number  of  acres  of  desert  land  in  our 
district,  we  have  the  honor  to  report  by  a  rough  estimate  that  there 
are  4,515,840.  This  includes  the  desert  lands  of  the  Yakima  In- 
dian reservation. 

Trusting  that  your  visit  to  Salt  Lake  will  be  both  pleasant  and 
profitable  to  yourself,  as  well  as  the  State  of  Washington, 

I  remain,  yours  truly, 

W.  H.  HARE, 

Receiver* 


21 

UNITED  STATES  LAND  OFFICE,  WATERVILLE,  WASH. 
HON.  J.  H.  THOMAS,  North  Yakima,  Washington: 

Dear  Sir — Your  letter  of  the  29th  ult.,  asking  for  an  estimate 
as  to  the  number  of  acres  of  desert  land  in  this  land  district  has 
been  received.  I  find  it  difficult  to  make  anything  like  a  correct 
estimate.  Taking  that  portion  of  the  land  district  that  has  been 
surveyed  and  the  settlement  of  which  can  be  ascertained,  I  find 
that  there  are  a  number  of  townships  that  are  unsettled,  and  the 
Assessor  of  this  county  states  that  the  land  is  desert  in  character. 
There  are  some  sixteen  of  such  townships,  or  an  approximate  of 
368,000  acres.  I  believe  this  is  as  nearly  as  can  be  told. 
Yours  very  respectfully, 

J.  C.  LAWRENCE, 

Register. 


UNITED  STATES  LAND  OFFICE,      ) 
SPOKANE  FALLS,  WASH.,  August  31,  1891.  \ 
HON,  J.  II.  THOMAS,  North  Yakima,  Washington: 

Sir — deferring  to  yours  of  August  29,  '91,  I  have  to  say  that 
none  of  the  lands  in  this  land  district  have  been  returned  by  the 
surveyors  as  being  desert  land.  There  is  no  doubt  that  a  million 
acres  of  this  district  would  be  the  better  if  it  could  be  irrigated, 
but  as  to  the  desert  land  I  must  report  "None." 

Yours   respectfully, 

A.  W.  STRONG, 

Register. 


UNITED  STATES  LAND  OFFICE,      ) 
VANCOUVER,  WASH.,  August  3!,  1891.  j 

Respectfully  returned  to  writer — I  do  not  believe  that  there  is 
any  land  in  this  district  properly  classed  as  desert  land.  In  Klick- 
itat  County  there  is  much  land  requiring  irrigation  when  it  is  in- 
tended to  farm  same,  but  I  am  informed  that  all  this  land  makes 
excellent  pasturage,  and  when  fenced  in  small  tracts  is  very  valua- 
ble for  grazing.  Desert  land  entries  have  been  made  at  this  office. 
I  invitfe  your  attention  to  the  Dunbar's  indorsement,  however. 

J.  M.  GEOGHEGAN, 

Register. 


GOLDENDALE,  WASH.,  September  2,  1891. 
There  <are  no  desert  lands   in  that  portion  of  Klickitat  County 


lying  within  the  Vancouver  Land  Office  District.     The  statements 
of  Hon.  John  D.  Geoghegan  in  his  letter  above  are  correct. 

Respectfully, 

W.  R.  DUXBAR. 


NORTH  YAKIMA,  WASH.,  August  29,  1891. 
HON.  REGISTER  AND  RECORDER,  Walla  Walla,  Washington: 

Gentlemen— Having  been  appointed  by  the  Governor  a  dele- 
gate from  this  State  to  attend  the  National  Irrigation  Convention 
to  be  held  at  Salt  Lake  City  on  the  15th,  i6th  and  i7tliof  Sep- 
tember, I  shall  be  under  many  obligations  if  you  will  furnish  me 
at  once  an  estimate  of  all  desert  lands  in  your  district.  I  will  need 
the  information  in  the  convention. 

I  am,  very  respectfully, 

J.  II.  THOMAS. 


We  estimate   the   desert   land  in  this  district  at  from  50,000   to 
60,000  acres. 

Verv  respectfully, 

ED.  C.  Ross, 


l\  egist'er. 


WYOMING. 

The  total  area  of  the    State  of    Wyoming,  excluding   Yellow- 
stone National  Park,  is  60,752,000  acres,  divided  as  follows: 


CLASS. 

ACRES. 

Forest  lands  

10  ooo  ooo 

(jra/in»r  lands  

•3  A  7  C  2  OOO 

Desert  lands  ... 

JO  OOO  OOO 

Irritable  lands,  under  1)  

3  ooo  ooo 

Irrigable  lands,  reclaimable  

3,000,000 

FOREST    LANDS. 

In  general  the  forest  lands  include  the  mountain  areas  upon 
which  timber  grows,  regardless  of  its  commercial  value.  In  Wy- 
oming large  tracts  of  country  upon  which  the  timber  grows  but 
sparsely,  are  classed  as  forest  lands,  the  timber  upon  these  tracts 
being  principally  confined  to  the  slopes  of  the  narrow  valleys  and 
the  gorges  and  canons  cut  by  the  stream.  This  scattering  timber 


h;is  small  commercial  value,  because  it  is  found  in  bodies  too  small 
to  warrant  the  expenditure  of  money  necessary  to  convert  it  into 
lumber.  It  can  only  be  used  to  advantage  by  the  ranchman  and 
the  miner,  whose  requirements  are  not  great  and  whose  necessities 
are  easily  supplied.  But  the  lands  where  such  timber  abounds, 
being  upon  the  slopes  of  the  mountain  ranges,  furnish  catchment 
areas  for  the  heavy  snows  of  winter.  It  is  here  that  the  water  for 
irrigation  must  be  conserved. 

Not  to  exceed  twenty  per  cent  or  two  million  acres  of  the  t;otal 
area  of  forest  land  in  the  State  are  valuable  for  commercial  pur- 
poses. 

GRAZING    LANDS. 

To  the  grazing  lands  belong  those  tracts  which  furnish  natural 
pasturage  for  flocks  and  herds.  Without  them  the  great  cattle 
industry,  which  is  now  and  will  continue  to  be  one  of  the  most 
important  sources  of  wealth  in  Wyoming,  could  not  exist.  These 
lands  comprise  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  total  area  of  the  State, 
are  too  vast  in  extent,  too  broken  in  surface,  too  elevated  and 
far  removed  from  the  water  supply,  to  be  reclaimed.  Their  value 
must  always  remain  small,  but  can  be  maintained  and  augmented 
by  legislation  which  will  give  security  of  tenure  to  their  use  and 
prevent  the  destruction  of  the  native  grasses. 

DKSKRT    LANDS. 

The  desert  lands  of  Wyoming  are  two-fold  in  character. 
Those  devoid  of  vegetation  and  those  which,  although  they  may 
support  a  fair  growth  of  native  grasses,  are  too  far  from  streams 
or  water  courses  to  be  utilized  as  pasture  lands.  These  lands  have 
no  intrinsic  value  and  often  on  account  of  their  existence  in  large 
tracts  and  the  consequent  separation  of  the  irrigable  areas  materi- 
ally depreciate  the  value  of  the  agricu'tural  lands.  They  comprise 
about  one-sixth  of  the  total  area  of  the  State. 

IKHIGABLE     LANDS. 

The  limits  of  the  appropriation  from  the  smaller  streams  of 
the  State  is  about  reached  and  the  future  extension  of  irrigated 
areas  must  come  from  the  utilization  of  waters  of  our  important 
streams.  Hereafter  ditches  must  be  built  by  aggregations  of  cap- 
ital rather  than  by  the  efforts  of  the  individual.  This  means  a 
marked  increase  of  cost  of  irrigation  per  acre  and  a  complete 
change  in  the  methods  employed  in  the  construction  of  irrigating 
works.  Six  hundred  natural  water  ways  have  their  waters  di- 
verted in  irrigation  and  four  great  rivers  rise  within  the  State  and 


cross  her  borders- — the  Big  Horn  on  the  north,  the  Platte  on  the 
east,  the  Green  on  the  south  and  the  Snake  on  the  west — with  a 
maximum  discharge  of  25,200,  10,130,  11,495  and  30,000  cubic 
feet  per  second,  respectively.  By  far  the  greater  portion  of  the 
unreclaimed  lands  will  be  irrigated  by  the  waters  of  these  rivers, 
and  the  question  of  building  storage  reservoirs  to  conserve  the 
waters  carried  away  during  the  spring  floods  is  of  secondary  im- 
portance so  long  as  their  perennial  supply  juns  to  waste. 

IKRK;ATIO\   DEVELOPMENT  UP  TO  JAN.  i,  1891. 

Compiled  from  surveys  of  the  State  Engineer,  and  from  de- 
scription of  land  under  ditch  in  the  State  Engineer's  office: 

Total  number  of   ditches 3,o8o 

Total  length — miles , 5»4^4 

Total  capacity  in  ruble  feet    per  section 25,039 

Total  acreage  under  ditch 2, 17 -,7^* 

Estimated  cost  of   ditches   per  acre $    *3  62 

Estimated  cost  of   reclaimed  land   per  acre *i8  30 

^Estimated  cost  of  ditches  and  reclaimed  lands  based  on  figures  in 
Census  Bulletin,  "Irrigation  in  Wyoming,''  dated  August  27,  1891. 

Tabular  summary  of  the  applications  for  permits  to  appropri- 
ate water  filed  in  the  State  Engineer's  office  since  Jan.  I,  1891: 

Total  number 210 

Total  length,  miles 970 

Total  capacity,  cubic  feet  per  S 12,410 

Total  acreage 856,700 

Estimated  cost  of  ditch,  per  acre $     5.00 

Estimated  cost  of   reclaimed  land,  per  acre 24.25 

The  detailed  statistics  of  five  of  these  ditches  are  interesting,  as 
they  show  the  character  of  the  work  which  must  prevail  in  the 
future : 


No. 

J55 
1  06 

13 

55 
"5 

Name  of  Canal. 

Stream. 

Length  of 
Canal. 

Est.  Cost. 

Acres  to  be 
Irrigated. 

Central  Wyoming  Canal  ' 
Northern  Wyoming  Canal... 
Douglas  &  Platte  River  Canal 
An°°lo-  American  Ditch 

N.  Platte.. 
Tongue...  . 
N.  Platte.  . 
(irey    Bull. 
Tongue.  ... 

150  miles 

54  Miles 
45  Miles 
44  Miles 
24  Miles 

$2,000,000 
200,000 
200,000 
128,000 
100,000 

275,000 
70,000 

58,880 
172,280 
3OOOO 

The  Elkhorn  Ditch  

The  data  of  these  ditches  is  based  on  actual  surveys  and  esti- 
mates. It  represents  possibilities,  but  their  construction  will  hardly 
be  possible  under  existing  land  laws.  The  money,  therefor,  can- 
not be  secured. 

The  acreage  covered  by  these  canals  would,  if  reclaimed,  make 


Wyoming  self-supporting  from  an  agricultural  standpoint.  At 
present  the  State  imports  annually  over  half  a  million  dollars  worth 
of  farm  products.  The  statistics  for  1889  being  as  follows: 

Pounds. 

Wheat 577,650 

Oats 6,845,370 

Flour „ 6,616,050 

Bran,  meal  and  chops 2,609,630 

Corn 2,850,040 

Hay 9,  i 66,000 

Fruit  and  vegetables 5,483,600      / 

Packing  house  products 91 2,970 

Butter,  eggs,  poultry,  etc 471,540 

Total 35,533,800 

Note.     See  State  Engineer's  Report,  1889,  page  66. 

The  increase  in  productive  capacity  of  reclaimed  land  over 
natural  pasturages  of  the  arid  region  is  shown  by  the  following 
table : 

*Spring  wheat,  bushels 20 

Oats,  bushels .- 50 

Spring  rye,  bushels 20 

Spring  barley,  bushels 25 

jAlfalfa,  tons 3 

Timothy,  ton i 

^Potatoes,  bushels 200 

**Sugar  beets,  tons 15 

Cabbage,  tons 15 

Onions,  bushels , 400 

Field  peas,  bushels 50 

•j-fRuta  bagas,  tons 20 

*Per    acre    in    all    cases.      -fin    two    crops  yearly.     JVerv  best    quality. 
**Analyze  15  per  cent  sugar.     ttBost  table  quality. 

VALUE  OF  FARM  PRODUCTS CHE  YEN  NE,  JAN.  I  6,  189!. 

Wheat,  per  100  pounds .- $  1.90 

Flour,  per    100  pounds. 2.40 

Oats,  per  100  pounds i  .25 

Corn,  per  100  pounds i i.oo 

Chop,  per  100  pounds „ i.io 

Meal,  per  100  pounds 2.00 

Bran,  per  100  pounds 1.15 

Beans,  per  100  pounds •., 6.00 

Hay,  per  ton i3-oo 

Potatoes,  per  100  pounds 75 

Butter,  per  pound .30 

Cheese,  per  pound 20 

Eggs,  per  doz ; 30 

Apples,  per  barrel, 3.50 


26 

At  these  prices  an  acre  of  irrigated  land  would  have  an  annual 
productive  value  of 

If  sown  to  wheat $22.80 

If  sown  to  oats 25.00 

If  in  potatoes 75-°o 

If  in  timothy  hay i3-oo 

Its  value,  if  unirrigated,  is  for  pasturage  purposes  only.  It  re- 
quires forty  acres  to  support  an  animal.  At  the  present  price  of 
cattle  this  would  he  worth  about  five  dollars  or  twelve  and  a  half 
cents  per  acre.  The  productive  capacity  of  irrigated  and  unirri- 
crated  lands  are  therefore  as  one  to  one  hundred  if  the  irrigated 

r">  i~> 

product  is  hay,    and  one  to  six  hundred   if  the    irrigated  product 
is  potatoes. 


GAYLAMOUNT 
PAMPHLET  BINDER 


Monufocturad  by 

GAYLORD  BROS.  Inc 
SyrocuM,  N.Y 
Stockton,  Col  If. 


